Citizen Group Calls on USPS to Abandon Bonuses

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste called on the U.S. Postal Service yesterday to abandon its plans to distribute more than $200 million in executive bonuses before year's end.

"For USPS to give out hundreds of millions of dollars to its executives this year would be unconscionable," said CCAGW vice president Leslie K. Paige. "This agency was projecting a $1.3 billion financial loss this year even before Sept. 11. Now, postal management is engaged in an aggressive lobbying campaign to obtain a multibillion-dollar bailout from the taxpayers. … You do not give yourself bonuses when your company is in crisis and asking for bailout assistance. A private sector manager who proposed such a scheme would be laughed out of the boardroom."

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest taxpayer advocacy group with 1 million members and supporters.

In her statement, Paige said this is not the first time the postal service has given out hundreds of millions of dollars in executive bonuses while operating in the red.

"Between 1996 and 2000, the USPS gave out more than $1.4 billion in bonuses, including $284 million last year, when it lost money," she said.

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